Thanksgiving in Mozambique

No turkey from the grocery store this year!  This year, we kill our own turkeys!

But first you have to catch the turkeys, and boy are those guys fast!  We arranged to have a local restaurant cook the turkey for us for Thanksgiving dinner, but a few of us assisted in the turkey preparation beforehand.  For a good ten minutes or so, Sam, Sean, and Derek chased around the turkeys as they flew over fences, behind buildings, and around the yard behind the restaurant, the turkeys running for their lives, literally.  We were told by the owner that we could have the turkeys that fly because those are the ones that don’t have eggs, supposedly.  Finally, after much running around and with the help of a few boys who work at the restaurant, we finally caught our two turkeys!  I even took a turn holding the turkey because why not, right?  I was fortunate enough to be passed the turkey right as it took a huge poo, but luckily enough for me, it missed landing on my shoe by a mere couple inches.

Then it was time to kill them.  I’ll spare you the details since I think you can imagine pretty well how it works now after my post about killing the chicken.  Let’s just say, turkeys are larger than chickens so there is definitely more blood.  Never before did I ever think I would ever see my own Thanksgiving turkey lose its life right there in front of my own eyes! 

We had Thanksgiving dinner Friday night, potluck style.  Eight girls came over to my house and we made stuffing, gravy, salad, garlic mashed potatoes, spinach dip (except using kouve), deviled eggs, and green bean casserole, all using only carvao (a super miniaturized stove-top like BBQ using charcoal as the heat source).  I think we may have overwhelmed my family a bit, my grandma just took a seat outside eyeing our every move, and they probably think we are all insane Americans, but everything came out pretty good!  

Originally worried about having enough food, I was so surprised by the amount of food everyone brought!  Turkey, apple tarts, fudge, breads, dips, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cake, brownies, veggies, sweet potatoes, rice pudding!  So much food!  All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving, good food, good company.  I have a lot to be thankful for :).

Tres Fronteiras

Our "Trail"

Those of us that made the venture!

View from the top!  From the left, Mozambique then Swaziland, then South Africa!

Model School

This week and next, for the conclusion of our training, is Model School in which we get the opportunity to actually teach some real students.  We are divided into groups of about 3-5 people based on our subjects and alternate teaching lessons to either 8^th, 9^th, or 10^th grade classes of about 10-20 students (depending on the grade and whether students decide to attend that day).  The students volunteer to come to our model lessons as this is currently their summer vacation period. 

Today I taught 8^th grade Biology to two different turmas (classes) and it went really well!  My group is doing a unit on the Nervous System and so I taught about overall brain anatomy and the functions of the different regions of the brain, yes all in Portuguese.  During my 45 minute lesson, I did an activity with an egg in a jar full of water to demonstrate how CSF protects the brain (by the way, CSF in Portuguese is o liquido cefalorraquidiano in case you were wondering…just the beginning of the fun science vocab I get to attempt to pronounce correctly), and I had a drawing of the brain that I used in explaining the functions of each lobe and the cerebellum and brain stem. 

I had a lot of fun standing in front of the class and I think the students did too!  Other volunteers watch while we teach and I got some really positive feedback!  It got me really excited about having my own class of students in a couple months, though it is going to be very different teaching potentially 60-80 students per class versus just 10, but I am ready for the challenge!

I only teach one more review lesson next week, so now, I am basically done with training and am sort of just waiting out these next two weeks before we head to site!  

Ever been in three countries at once?

About a five mile hike outside of Namaacha is “Tres Fronteiras”, where the borders of Swaziland, South Africa and Mozambique meet.  About 20 of us ventured to find this location Sunday morning, not quite sure exactly where we were headed or what was in store for us.  Our only instructions from past volunteers were to follow the Swaziland – Mozambique border fence to the top of a hill. 

For the first few miles it was a fairly easy walk along the road, but in the distance we noticed the fence ascending straight up the looming mountain… Not quite sure if this was the correct trail, but seeing no other path, we decided to just stay along the fence as it was the most promising option of finding the Tres Fronteiras point.

The trail began to ascend steeply as it narrowed, on our left a barbed wire fence, on our right spikier and spikier bushes.  Soon our “trail,” if it could be called a trail at all really, basically disappeared, but we were determined to continue to follow this fence to our destination and there was no turning back.  At one point, spiky bushes blocked our path and we had to cut through them a bit, then duck down (pretty much on our hands and knees) under the spiky branches, helping to free each other’s caught clothing and backpacks.  Then the trail got even steeper, at least a 50^o incline, and the dirt under our feet turned to loose rocks, requiring one to walk with caution and ensure one foot was firmly planted before lifting the second. 

Finally we reached the summit, and what an incredible view!!  Hopefully I can upload some photos soon! 

The view definitely made the hike up worth the inflicted scrapes and effort, but it is a hike I am fine with only ever doing once and don’t really need to venture out to do again.

A Magnificent Matola Market for Many Menus!

Thanksgiving is coming up and being in Africa on the other side of the world isn’t stopping us!  On Friday, we are having Thanksgiving dinner, potluck style.  Somehow I became one of the people in charge of the festivities, but being in charge has its perks! 

Such as today, when we were driven to the most awesome place ever….Shop Rite in Matola!  Shop Rite is a giant grocery store with almost everything you can possibly find in your own local Albertson’s: produce, cheese, meat, cereal, milk, a bakery, condiments and spices, ice cream, etc, etc. 

Now this might not sound very exciting to most, but when your market pretty much only has potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, and bananas, just seeing pineapple, real cheese (goat cheese, feta, gouda, cheddar!),  and the variety of other types of food available (not even buying them right now, but just seeing them and seeing they exist) is an incredible feeling!  It was even somewhat overwhelming to consider all the possible things we can make and I am anxious to go to site and be able to cook my own food!

Drum Roll please........

First of all, shout out to my brother and sister-in-law! Congratulations Mike and Kali! Can't wait to meet my new niece, Lucy! And happy almost birthday to my nephew Mason!

So yesterday we finally learned where we will be living for the next two years!! They passed out envelopes to each of us and inside was the name of our site and which province it is in and then we all went and stood on a giant map of Mozambique drawn in chalk across a basketball court.  So drum roll please.................

I am headed up north to the province of Nampula to a city called Murrupula.  I know very very little about the site, but I'll share with you what I have discovered so far....

I am assigned to teach Biology and computers (apparently if you know how to use Word and Excel, then you are a computer expert) and I have a roommate, Erica, who is also a Moz 17er with me.  We are going to be re-opening the site in Murrupula.  Apparently, the school was not doing repairs that needed to be completed on the volunteer housing there, so Peace Corps stopped sending them volunteers until they did the repairs.  So, supposedly the repairs are done, and Peace Corps is making another appearance!  Though, I know nothing about what the housing is going to be like or what the school is like, or really anything else yet...

Murrupula is about an hour chapa ride from the big city of Nampula, so it is easily accessible and should be pretty easy for me to get whatever things I need.  It is also only a couple hours from Angoche (a beautiful beach) or about four hours from Ilha de Mocambique (another beautiful beach).  There are 12 other volunteers in my group who are also going to the Nampula province.

So that's pretty much all I know for now.  It is definitely going to be an adventure!

Never know what you might run across in Mozambique...

On Sunday, I hiked with a few friends to the Cascatas again.  We were smarter this time and decided not to go at the hottest time of the day and planned a picnic for some much needed relaxing time on our day off.

On our hike back, we encountered something I never thought would happen during my Peace Corps adventure….we happened upon a photo shoot!!  I’m not kidding! Walking along, suddenly we saw a girl in a long glamorous green gown, complete with peacock feathers.   There at the base of the Cascatas was a second model in the middle of a photo shoot, posing glamorously atop a large boulder with her gown draped elegantly across the rock.  The photographers saw us six Americans watching and urged for us to join the model!  (I don’t know who was probably more surprised, us on seeing a photo shoot, or them on seeing six American girls.)  Though definitely not in our proper modeling attire and quite sweaty and not feeling any bit glamorous, especially next to this gorgeous Mozambicana model, we eagerly jumped at the opportunity and the photographers clicked away on their cameras.  Apparently they work with a Mozambique designer  and these gowns are going to be featured during Mozambique Fashion Week in December.  (Who knew they have fashion week in Mozambique?!)

But my favorite moment of the day above being a model for a few minutes, was dinner.  Mary and I decided to make tacos for our families.  Her five siblings/cousins joined my sister and cousin for a fabulous taco night.  It was one of my favorite moments ever sitting around the table with them, chatting in Portuguese, having them laugh and correct my Portuguese, and them even trying to teach us Xangana (the local language).  They loved the tacos and I was amazed at how much Mary’s little brothers could eat!  It was a simple moment, but one of those moments where I thought to myself, this is why I am here, for moments like this J.

On Monday, we went to an orphanage here in Namaacha and played with the kids there a bit.  The orphanage was started in 2006 by two nuns and has about 60 children.  The kids don’t live there, but do receive food, learn all the things a parent would teach them like how to wash dishes and clothes or how to take a bath, and receive some tutoring.  If the kids make it through 7^th grade, the nuns pay for them to go to boarding school which is quite a gift and hopefully serves as some motivation for these children who do not come from very promising circumstances or backgrounds.  We were only there for an hour or two, but played games like duck duck goose, ride that pony, jigalo, red light-green light, taught them the song “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” and they taught us a couple games.

Inhambane

Took a while, but here are a few photos from my site visit...

Inhambane Province

Boat across the bay to Inhambane city

Tofo Beach

Falafel dinner

Site Visits

This past week, we ventured beyond Namaacha and stayed with currently serving volunteers at their sites, getting a first-hand glimpse of what life as a volunteer in Mozambique might be like.  People traveled all over the country, to all 10 provinces, revealing the great size of the country and differing experiences each and every volunteer here has/can have.

I visited the city of Homoine in the Inhambane province.  (Still considered southern Mozambique, Inhambane is located two provinces north of Maputo.)  After spending the night in Maputo on Friday (Thai food for dinner was delicious), we left the hotel at 4am and were driven by Peace Corps to Junta, the bus stop in Maputo for everything headed up North and beyond.  Junta is epitome of every stereotype about African transportation.  We had been briefed by other volunteers about the potential scariness or overwhelming-ness of Junta and didn’t really know what to expect.  Thank goodness Peace Corps continued to baby us and had four of our language teachers accompany us at Junta to make sure we got on the right/safe bus.  They even waited until the bus actually drove out of the parking lot to make sure we were properly on our way. 

Let me see if I can paint a proper picture of Junta.  There are chapas (~20 seats), medium sized buses (~30 seats), and large buses (~50 seats) parked on a dirt lot a little smaller than a football field, most with engines on and idling.  The buses are parked just close enough for someone to walk between and there are signs in front of some stating where they are going and how much it costs.  Drivers walk around asking where you are headed, saying they will offer you a good price to wherever and trying to convince you that’s where you want to go instead.  People wander about selling soda, water, crackers, capulanas, sunglasses, clothes, even nail polish!  Sitting waiting for the chapa to leave, I tried to not make eye contact with the vendors pacing around outside my window so they didn’t think I wanted to buy anything.  People stand on top of the large buses (like charter sized buses) hauling large suitcases, tables, chairs, mattresses, etc. on top of the roof, creating a pile about 15-20 feet high!  All in all, Junta is definitely not a place one should walk around looking lost or confused, despite the inevitability of feeling lost and confused by all the commotion.  I never felt unsafe, just wary and cautious and it was certainly comforting having our language teachers there to guide us around.

So we found our bus, then proceeded to sit on it waiting to leave for about an hour and a half.  I don’t know how or who decides because I don’t think any sort of bus schedule exists, but eventually the bus filled up and left around 6:30am (we left our hotel at 4:30am).  Oops, only to exit the lot then stop to load four wooden benches underneath, which took another good 15 minutes or so….

But overall, the ride was much more spatious than I had anticipated and luckily it wasn’t too hot of a day.  Amazingly, the road (Dad, you can highlight the N1 for me on your map), was unbelievably straight, I don’t think we ever once made a turn or even a bend for that matter.  The driver stops every few hours or so and people can get off to go to the bathroom (just squat on the side of the road, behind some bushes if they are around) or vendors run up to the windows selling water, sodas, cookies, mangos, bananas, cashews and even stranger things like if you need a straw mat. 

After about 9 hours, we arrived in Maxixe and met up with the volunteer we were visiting, Yvette.  After lunch at the market in Maxixe, it was another 45ish minute chapa ride(our first chapa ran out of gas) to Homoine, followed by a 20-30 minute walk to Yvette’s house.

So that was our 10 hour adventure to arrive in Homoine.  Inhambane is an unbelievably beautiful province.  There are tons of trees (palms, mangos, and others) and everywhere you look is green green green.  We even saw a rainbow! The city itself is fairly small, but nearby Maxixe has an amazing market called Taurus that has lots of fun things like soy sauce, spices, cereal, broccoli, cauliflower, cheese, and other goodies. 

Yvette is an English teacher at a teacher trainer institute and lives on the school grounds.  She usually has running water (and even running, HOT water), but unfortunately the pump has been broken for a couple months so we didn’t get the pleasure of taking hot normal showers and continued using buckets.  But the bathroom was inside which was a nice change.  Her place has a living room, kitchen, and three bedrooms, very spacious and lots of natural light. 

During our visit, we met many other volunteers who live in nearby cities either down the road about 20 minutes or off the main highway about an hour or so away.  They met us for lunch in Maxixe (I ate a surprisingly very delicious hamburger).  Then a huge storm started and, totally unprepared for rain, we decided to brace the storm and run through the flooded streets to the chapa stop about a 15 minute walk away.  Yvette almost lost her sandals in the flooded streets and people definitely were very amused to see three Americans running through the thunderstorm.  Of course, about 10 minutes after we got on the chapa, it stopped raining…

During the rest of our visit, we walked around the village center and the market in Homoine, relaxed and chatted with Yvette and other volunteers, and just enjoyed the beautiful view around us.  The best part was taking a boat then a chapa to the beautiful beach in Tofo for a fantastic beach day (let me just say, that never when I imagined my days in Peace Corps, did I imagine lounging for the entire day at a gorgeous beach with crystal blue water the perfect temperature for swimming).  It was definitely a nice change of pace being able to cook for ourselves!  We made pancakes, tacos, stew, but the best dinner by far was falafel, complete with pita, yogurt sauce,  cucumber, tomato, salad, and of course hummus!  SO DELICIOUS!

I wish I could transcribe every second of every experience into words, but I am finding that to be nearly impossible, but I greatly accept any questions you may have regarding anything, big or small!!

Mostly, the site visit served to show what life can be like and meeting and talking with so many volunteers revealed the great diversity in living situations, work situations, and experiences.  On Wednesday, we find out our own site placement and I can’t wait to see what my adventure will be like…